Roku Rejects Calls to Dump NRA TV Channel From Its Devices

A groundswell of online supporters are pushing several major tech companies, including Apple and Google, to sever ties with the National Rifle Association’s TV channel in the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida school shooting.

The hashtag #DumpNRATV has been trending on Twitter, calling for Apple, Roku, Google, and Amazon to pull NRA TV content from their streaming services. The channel broadcasts shows, interviews and commentary on, you guessed it, guns, 24 hours a day.

More than 200,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to boot NRA TV. And Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization launched after the fatal shooting two weeks ago in Florida, wants the tech giants to stop “providing a platform for the NRA’s dangerous rhetoric.”

“NRATV is home to the NRA’s most dangerous and violence-inciting propaganda,” Shannon Watts, the group’s founder, told the Huffington Post. “It’s time for tech leaders to acknowledge their role in helping the NRA spread this dangerous content and cut it out.”

“We demand that Apple, Amazon, AT&T’s DIRECTV, Google and Roku all dump NRATV once and for all,” she added.

Roku, the popular streaming device maker, is the only service to respond to the petition so far. In a statement to TheWrap on Tuesday, Roku said it would not take action against NRA TV because it “does not curate or censor based on viewpoint,” adding that the NRA channel hasn’t violated its content policies.

Apple, Google and Amazon have not yet returned TheWrap’s request for comment.

Read Roku’s full statement below:

We share deep sadness about the recent tragedy that occurred in Florida.

Our streaming platform allows our customers to choose from thousands of entertainment, news and special interest channels, representing a wide range of topics and viewpoints. Customers choose and control which channels they download or watch, and parents can set a pin to prevent channels from being downloaded. While the vast majority of all streaming on our platform is mainstream entertainment, voices on all sides of an issue or cause are free to operate a channel. We do not curate or censor based on viewpoint.

We are not promoting or being paid to distribute NRA TV. We do not and have not ever had a commercial relationship with the NRA. Their channel is free to consumers with no ads. We welcome Moms Demand Action and other important groups to use our platform to share their messages too.

While open to many voices, we have policies that prohibit the publication of content that is unlawful, incites illegal activities or violates third-party rights, among other things. If we determine a channel violates these policies, it will be removed. To our knowledge, NRA TV is not currently in violation of these content policies.

11 Hollywood Stars in the NRA: From Chuck Norris to James Earl Jones (Photos)

The National Rifle Association has stood up for gun owners for years, but come under heavy criticism for opposing gun control after mass shootings from San Bernardino to Orlando. Some celebrity members of the group have stood by it, while others have distanced themselves from certain stances.

Arguably the most famous Hollywood star associated with the NRA was Charlton Heston, who served as its president from 1998 to 2003 before stepping down after an Alzheimers diagnosis. (He died in April 2008.)

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Rock musician Ted Nugent is one of the NRA's most outspoken members. In January 2015, on the organization's radio show, he called NRA opponents "subhuman mongrels" and "some kind of inbred Martian."

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NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone is an avid hunter and has served on the NRA Board. But he angered some gun owners when he spoke to Sports Illustrated about those who buy guns for their protection: "The big picture is that guns won't protect you. If someone really wanted to get you, they would."

"Walker, Texas Ranger" star Chuck Norris has a long history as an avid NRA spokesperson, creating videos supporting the Second Amendment and NRA initiatives including the "Trigger The Vote" campaign.

Actor Tom Selleck got into a heated debate with Rosie O'Donnell in 1999 when she questioned him about being a member of the NRA. In 2013, shortly after the Sandy Hook school shootings, MSNBC pundit Lawrence O'Donnell said that it was time to "question Selleck's humanity" after the actor's silence on the matter.

In 2014, an online petition circulated demanding the Glastonbury music festival remove Metallica from the schedule because its frontman, James Hetfield, is an NRA member with a history of hunting. Hetfield narrated the History Channel series "The Hunt," about a trek to Kodiak, Alaska, to kill brown bears. When it comes to gun control, however, Hetfield said in 2013: "I don’t want to make it easier for someone to have an assault weapon, but I also want to be able to protect my family."

James Earl Jones wrote about being a NRA member in his 1993 self-titled autobiography: "I just throw the political mail from the NRA into the trash ... When it comes to the right-wing politics of the NRA, I don’t get into that. I just believe in my right to have a gun in my house.”

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After the Sandy Hook school shootings in December 2012, West Coast Choppers founder Jesse James wrote a Facebook post supporting the NRA and objecting to gun control laws in some states. "People that should not have guns will still find a way to get them. Please join the NRA now," he wrote.

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Country singer Miranda Lambert is a lifetime NRA member and an outspoken gun rights advocate. At the 2016 American Country Music awards, she showed up on the red carpet sporting pink stilettos with a tiny gun and holster strapped to the front.

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In a 2002 interview with The Guardian, director Michael Moore talked about how he got a NRA lifetime membership as part of a stunt for his documentary, "Bowling For Columbine." He mentioned he had planned to run against Charlton Heston for the group's presidency, but gave up on the plan. The NRA president is voted on by board members, rather than the entire organization.

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Some famous members are strongly against gun control, while others have distanced themselves from the group’s most extreme stances

The National Rifle Association has stood up for gun owners for years, but come under heavy criticism for opposing gun control after mass shootings from San Bernardino to Orlando. Some celebrity members of the group have stood by it, while others have distanced themselves from certain stances.